I Am Dynamite!
A Life of Nietzsche
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I Am Dynamite!
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Narrated by:
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Nicholas Guy Smith
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By:
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Sue Prideaux
About this listen
A groundbreaking and hypnotic biography of philosophy's greatest iconoclast.
Friedrich Nietzsche's work blasted the foundation of Western thinking. The death of God, the Übermensch and the slave morality permeate our culture, high and low, and yet he is one of history's most misunderstood philosophers.
Nietzsche himself thought that all philosophy was autobiographical, and in this myth-shattering book Sue Prideaux brings listeners into the world of a brilliant, eccentric and deeply troubled man, illuminating the events and people that shaped his life and work.
From his placid, devoutly Christian upbringing, overshadowed by the mysterious death of his father, through his lonely philosophising on high mountains, to the horror and pathos of his final descent into madness, Prideaux explores Nietzsche's intellectual, emotional and spiritual life with insight and sensitivity.
The audiobook is studded with unforgettable portraits of the people who were most important to him, including Richard and Cosima Wagner, Lou Salomé - the femme fatale who broke his heart - and his rabidly nationalist and anti-Semitic sister Elizabeth, who betrayed him by manipulating his texts and putting them to infinite misuse at the hands of the Nazis. Today, Nietzsche's ideas continue to be adopted by both the left and the right. I Am Dynamite! is the essential biography for anyone seeking to understand the philosopher who foresaw - and sought solutions to - our own troubled times.
©2018 Sue Prideaux (P)2018 Random House AudiobooksWhat listeners say about I Am Dynamite!
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 04-12-2018
An all-too-human tale
Strips back the accoutrements of triumphalism and myth built up over Nietzsche’s troubled reception history to provide a wonderful, evocative and honest portrait of a hyper-talented, sensitive soul way ahead of his time.
Pleasing dramatic reading by Nicholas Guy-Smith. The pendant in me found the ostentatious over-pronunciation of German names, words and proper nouns to grate after a while. Far too portentous and overwrought. Not sure why he felt the need to pronounce the work “Nachlass” (referring to Nietzsche’s unpublished manuscripts and letters, etc) with a hint of Darth Vader each time.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Wrenasmir
- 08-10-2020
A Tremendous Nietzsche Feature
I first discovered Nietzsche as a young man nearing the end of high school - the perfect age surely to pick up Walter Kaufmann’s translations. Now, as I approach forty, I am conscious what an immeasurable gift it has been to my life to have discovered Nietzsche and set my dawns on the track, or lack of, they have trodden. While I knew quite a bit about his life, mostly from Kaufmann’s classic biography, I feel that this new biography weaves a narrative so engaging and full of newly revealed archival materials that the picture of Nietzsche’s life has never been fuller. Prideaux’s description of his school days, of hanging Xmas decorations at the Wagner estate, of his flirtations, of his lonely walks beneath the shade of forest leaves, of his forging his own path with his books through to the unbelievable pace of chaotic, brilliant creativity that culminated with his loss of mental control, and the heartbreaking reflections on how he foresaw his future intellectual misuse, are all phenomenal. The voice actor delivers a wonderful performance, warm and sensitive. Highly recommended audiobook experience on all fronts.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- ELIZABETH
- 08-05-2020
Brilliant
Sue Prideaux has produced a revealing biography of a restless and relentless major figure of nineteenth century philosophy. Ironically, Nietzsche was only just becoming famous as he lost touch with reality. Prideaux gives us enough background on his life to allow us to see how and why his ideas evolved. His relationships with his family, friends and particularly Wagner are examined in great detail but the impetus of the book never slackens. The author wanders off the main path just enough to help us understand his motivation. We are presented with many of his ideas but in a digestible form so that with a little concentration one can see what he was trying to say. Occasionally, it feels as if she is acting as an apologist for him, and for the way his ideas were deliberately misunderstood and corrupted by others. The book is well narrated by Nicholas Guy Smith but regular mispronunciations make one wince. Never mind. It is a massive tome and massive achievement by all concerned.
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